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The Theme of 1 John
The book of 1 John is all about how to identify those born of God.
"This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are:
Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." 1
John 3:10
"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love
remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
in him."1 John 3:14,15
These kinds of verses show the basic message of 1 John, namely:
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It's about identifying children of God and distinguishing them from the children of the devil.
As evidence of such, it's about the correlation between a person's behavior and their salvation status.
The Word made Flesh
1 John 1:1-2 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked at and our hands have touched— this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life
appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father
and has appeared to us.
John's main purpose in writing is to provide ways to identify real Christians and distinguishing them from
cults. One of the cults he addresses in this letter is "Docetism". The following is taken from Zondervan's
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible:
DOCETISM - denial of the reality of Christ's human body.
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The Docetists believed that the body of Christ was not real flesh and blood but only a hallucination or
a phantasm, deceptive and passing; that Christ's body was purely spiritual and therefore took up
nothing of true human nature.
This heresy developed easily and rapidly in one form or another because of the pagan philosophic
emphasis of the time that matter is inherently evil.
This being so, it was blasphemous to maintain that the spiritual Christ could have, in any sense at all, a
physical body.
Thus throughout the letter, John emphasizes the physical nature of Christ's incarnation.
See how he starts this letter with what he says in the first chapter of his gospel:
John 1:1,14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Making Joy Complete
1John 1:2-4 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
Elsewhere John says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4
In other words he's writing to them so that they would walk in the truth, and consequently that would complete
his joy. What is implied is that he sees some deficiency among them on this point.
What about you? What would make your joy complete? And do you share this in common with John?
God is light
1John 1:5 - This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no
darkness at all.
What does it mean that God is light?
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The Revelation of Truth
Holiness
This metaphor "light" is very commonly used throughout the New Testament and most commonly associated
with these two concepts. For example it says,
"the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth" Eph 5:9
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or
what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2Cor 6:14
And Jesus said, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed." John 3:19,20
Walking in Self-Deception
1John 1:6 - If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the
truth.
Why do people chose to walk in darkness?
Jesus said, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because
their deeds were evil." John 3:19
A person's "walk" is their lifestyle.
If a person claims to be in fellowship with the LORD, but has a lifestyle inconsistent with that which is
revealed in the Bible, such a person is not in fellowship with the LORD.
This is normal for today as well as then. For many claim to have fellowship with the LORD, but their claims
are in vain if their claims are inconsistent with their lifestyle.
Consider yourself. How do you know whether your own claim of being in fellowship with God is true?
Walking in the Light
1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life." John 8:12
One of the effects of walking in the light is the experience of fellowship with other genuine believers. But
what is also implied here is that only those walking in the light will have their sins purified by the blood of
Jesus.
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Not that salvation is contingent upon living a certain lifestyle. But rather that living a lifestyle
consistent with the Christian faith reveals genuine faith.
A faith upon which purification from sin is dependent. If you are not walking in the light, you will not
be purified from all sin. This is one of the ideas in 1 John.
Claiming to be Without Sin
1John 1:8 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
There are those in the Christian community who claim to be without sin. Such people are also self-deceived,
turning a blind eye to their own sins.
John contrasts it with the idea of confessing our sins. To claim to be without sin is the claim that a person no
longer commits sins.
For a person to be completely blind to their own sin, may indicate they are not saved and walking in darkness.
Confessing our Sins
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
A issue arises here in that if forgiveness is contingent upon our confession of particular sins then that would
mean that each time a person sins they lose their salvation until they confess their sins, which seems a bit of a
works-based salvation among other things.
But there are two things about what is actually been said in the Greek manuscript here.
Once we are born again, our sins are forgiven (past, present and future). This does not mean that we are not
aware of sin in our lives and confessing shows that we are saved.
The Word finds no Place
1 John 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our
lives.
The Bible says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Rom 3:23 For a person to claim they are
not among those who have sinned means they are calling God a liar. "There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins." Ecc 7:20
This is one reason why people exhibit hatred for the message of the gospel and for its messengers, because it
deals with their sinning. Jesus said, "(the world) hates me because I testify that what it does is evil." John 7:7
Not only do such people not find any place for the Word, nor find any time for the Word, but they run away
from it. "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed." John 3:20
The World hates and fears the Word of God.
Thankfully the Word has found a place in your life.
We have an Advocate
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one
who speaks to the Father in our defense— Jesus Christ, the Righteous On
Jesus is our defense attorney such that we need not be concerned of speaking in our own defense on the
judgment day as others must. Jesus speaks on our behalf. So in answer to the question as to how you should
respond if God were to ask you on the judgment day, "Why should I let you into my kingdom?", you only need
answer, "You'll have to talk to my attorney. He's sitting at your right hand side."
Another thing from this verse is the fact that though our sins are forgiven, this does not imply we have a
license to sin. Much to the contrary, for Jesus "gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to
purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:14
But at the same time, realize that those born of God might sin from time to time.
Appeasing God's wrath
1 John 2:2 - He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.
Nothing else appeases God's wrath on sin but Jesus' death on the cross.
For "it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt
offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand." Is
53:10
And Jesus said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show
the kind of death he was going to die. John 12:32,33
God our Savior "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
1Tim 2:4 Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.
In preaching to non-Christians we should say, "God loves you and wants you to be saved. Jesus died for
your sins and he declares that if you come to faith in him, your sins will be forgiven."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
Of course we'd want to elaborate upon what constitutes "faith in him.", but the point is that Jesus died for the
sins of everyone around us - regardless of whether they ultimately end up in heaven or hell.
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